Chapter 14 Sierra
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
sierra
SUMMER BEFORE SOPHOMORE YEAR
The Goldfinch fairgrounds were so lit up that you could practically see them from across town. Apparently that only happened during two weeks of the year: the Goldfinch County Fair and Gulch Days, the summer kickoff celebration.
I didn’t plan to go to the fairgrounds, but my parents were fighting downstairs, so I fished out twenty bucks from under my bed and snuck out the window.
If I had to listen to screaming, it may as well have been from people on rides or kids having fun.
I’d have to figure out a way to get home that wasn’t walking three miles in the dark, but I’d cross that bridge when I got there.
I’d never been to a real carnival or fair before. Ponderosa Valley had a small-scale fair, but my parents never took me, and I wasn’t old enough to go wandering around town by myself. Not that anyone would have cared, but I had some self-preservation skills.
Lights from the rides and carnival games danced across the sky, and a symphony of music, laughter, and the happy screams of children surrounded me as I took everything in. The smell of fried food filled the air, combined with the distinctive musk of livestock and show animals.
Not really sure where to go, I wandered down the rows of carnival games, observing kids with their parents, teenagers hanging out with their friends, and couples on their first dates.
“Sierra!” A familiar voice called out my name.
I spun around to see Hayden, Keenan, and two of their friends, whose names I couldn’t quite remember.
Hayden jogged over to me, despite the other boys telling him to wait up. “Hey!” he called out, waving his hand in a wild gesture. “Fancy seeing you here.”
My cheeks flushed, warmth flooding into my body. “Hi.”
“Are you here by yourself?” he asked as he looked around for my nonexistent companion.
I nodded. “Yeah, I, uh, needed to get out of the house.” I didn’t mention that I walked all the way here.
“Same. Well, that and I just got my driver’s license, so Keenan practically begged me to drive him here.” He laughed, and the sound was like honey. Warm and soothing.
By that point, the other three boys had caught up to Hayden, and he turned to look at them. “You can hang out with us if you want. We don’t mind. Right, guys?”
His friends shook their heads.
“Oh…” I paused. “I don’t know.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Keenan tugged on my arm, not having much concept of personal space. I brushed him off, but he didn’t seem to notice as he continued. “We can go into the funhouse with all the mirrors! Or go on the Zipper!”
“Only if you want to, but I…” Hayden’s voice trailed off, fading into a whisper, even though the other boys had already moved on. “I just don’t want you to be alone.”
Oh.
“Well…I guess I could hang out with you guys,” I conceded.
Hayden’s face lit up. “Awesome! What do you want to do first?”
I shuffled my foot in the dirt. “I’m not sure. I’ve never been to one of these before.”
“What?!” Keenan’s mouth gaped. “We have to do everything now.”
“I-I don’t think I have enough money for that.” I forced out an awkward laugh. “I didn’t know what to expect, so I just brought this.” I pulled out my singular twenty-dollar bill.
“That’ll be enough to get you some ride tickets. And if you want to play games, I can pay,” Hayden offered.
I shook my head. “No, I can’t let you do that.”
“You’re my friend, Sierra. It’s what friends do. We can make it even later,” Hayden insisted, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, something that would normally make me shrink away. But with Hayden, it felt different. Safe somehow. Like I could trust him.
“Okay. But I’m going to pay you back.”
“Deal.” He stuck out his pinky finger.
I looked down at his hand then back up to him. “What’s that?”
“Pinky swear. Lock it in.”
After a moment’s pause, I linked my pinky finger with his. Then Hayden brought his hand up to his mouth, kissing the knuckle on his thumb.
“Come on, you guys, we’re going to leave you behind!” Keenan yelled over his shoulder as he and the two other boys ran toward the mirror house.
“Um, what are your other friends’ names?” I asked, slightly embarrassed by my terrible memory.
“Jack and Andrew,” Hayden answered without hesitation or judgment.
I nodded then followed behind Hayden, trying to catch up to the three boys.
“Sierra, you’ve got to try these!” Keenan thrust a bucket of apple cider donuts under my nose, his mouth full of the sugary pastry. “They’re so good.”
I flicked my gaze toward Hayden, and our eyes met, both of us holding back laughter.
“Thanks.” Chuckling, I took a donut out of the bucket and popped it in my mouth. Eyes widening, I took another one. “You’re not wrong. These are delicious! It completely melted in my mouth.”
“I know. They’re my favorite,” Keenan agreed. “Let’s go play some games!”
We’d already gone on as many rides as possible, blowing through our tickets. My favorite was the Scrambler, even though I was squished between Hayden and Keenan because we didn’t think about weight distribution.
“What do you want to play first?” Hayden asked me as we walked through the aisle of games.
I took in our surroundings, noting all of the different options. Balloon darts, a ring toss, one of those games where you raced horses with water guns, and a booth where you had to knock over milk bottles with bean bags were some of the options.
“Hmm…” I tapped my finger against my lips. “Balloon darts?”
“Sure! I’m really good at that one!” Hayden and I stepped up to the booth together.
“Hi, kids!” the carnival employee, an older man, greeted us. “You wanna play?”
“Yes, please.” Hayden handed over a bundle of tickets. “You wanna go first?”
I pursed my lips, hesitating for a second. “I don’t know if I’ll be any good.”
“Try it out!” The carnie handed me a couple darts.
Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I focused on the balloons, trying to decide which one to aim for. Settling on a balloon in the middle row, I pulled back my arm and then threw the dart. It flew through the air then hit the balloon with a pop!
“I did it!” I exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement.
“Keep ’em coming! If you pop three balloons, you can win a prize!”
That was all the motivation I needed. I’d always been competitive, and now I was determined to take home a prize, even if it meant I’d have to hide it under the bed or in my closet.
Despite my best efforts, I only popped one more balloon. Shoulders slumping in defeat, I pouted my lips.
Hayden leaned in to whisper, “Which one do you want?”
I pointed to a stuffed tiger with bright-blue fur hanging on the wall. “That one’s cute.”
He puffed up his chest a little as he stepped up to the counter. “I’m going to win it for you. Three more darts, please.”
The carnie smirked then handed him the darts.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
Every single one of the balloons Hayden aimed for popped.
“Congratulations, son. Which prize would you like?”
He pointed to the tiger. “That one, please.”
“Excellent choice.” The carnie pulled the stuffed animal down from the hook, passing it over the counter to Hayden.
“Thank you very much!” Hayden smiled before turning to face me. “Here you go. What are you going to name it?”
My brows furrowed. “Name it?”
“Yeah! Don’t you name your stuffed animals? Growing up, I had a stuffed dog named George. It looked exactly like our family’s chocolate lab, so I named the stuffie after him.”
The truth was, I’d never had stuffed animals growing up. My father thought stuffed animals were stupid, and they were also good bargaining chips for him if I did something he deemed as wrong or disrespectful. If I didn’t want one of my belongings to be ripped up, I’d behave.
After a few moments of thinking, it came to me. “I’m going to name it Haze.”
He laughed, his lips curling up like he knew exactly what the name meant. “Haze?”
“Yeah. Haze.” I smiled back. “That way, I can think of this day every time I see him.”
And you.
Hayden.
My first friend.
My only friend, really.